The Association Internationale de Droit Pénal (A.I.D.P.) / International Association of Penal Law  (I.A.P.L.) was founded in Paris on March 14, 1924, it is worldwide the oldest association of specialists in penal law and one of the oldest scientific associations. Since 1924 the I.A.P.L. acquired in its field of action a particular status among the other organizations, scientists, experts and governmental and professional authorities. This field of actions covers: 1) Criminal policy and codification of penal law. 2) Comparative criminal law. 3) International criminal law (with a specialization in international criminal justice) and 4) Human rights in the administration of criminal justice.

Within the framework of the Association, the Young Penalists and the Young Penalists Committee strive to be a valuable, modern and international platform that assists young scholars and practitioners in developing their academic and professional careers. The Young Penalists group was founded in 1999, during the XVI International Congress of Budapest, as a result of the particular interest shown by young academics and practitioners in the activities of the Association. Therefore, special rules aimed to ensure autonomy and favorable conditions of affiliation were introduced in the By-Laws of the Association in order to foster a direct involvement of members who are under the age of 35.

Pictures of the V, VII, VIII, IX, X and XI AIDP International Symposia for Young Penalists

Latest news

9 December 2023

The proceedings of the X AIDP International Symposium for Young Penalists are now available on open access.


7 December 2023

The International Association of Penal Law together with the Siracusa International Institute for Criminal Justice and Human Rights, are launching the call for nominations to the “2024 M.Cherif Bassiouni Siracusa Prize”, that will be awarded on the occasion of the XXIst International Congress of Penal Law, to be held in June 25-28, 2024, in Paris (France).


27 July 2023

The programme of the XI Symposium for Young Penalists (Kyoto, 14-15 September 2023) has been published.


3 March 2023

The call for papers of the XI Symposium for Young Penalists (Kyoto, 14-15 September 2023) has been published.


25 January 2023

The call for papers of the Early-Career Scholars Panel at the XII Conference on the Future of Adversarial and Inquisitorial Systems (Bologna, 17 May 2023) has been published.


12 January 2023

The results of the last four AIDP International Symposia for Young Penalists are now available on open access.


1 October 2022

The programme of the X Symposium for Young Penalists (Bologna, 27-28 October 2022) has been published.


30 June 2022

The proceedings of the VIII Symposium for Young Penalists have been published in a dedicated issue of the RIDP.


11 June 2022

The call for papers of the X Symposium for Young Penalists (Bologna, 27-28 October 2022) has been published.


10 November 2021

The programme of the IX Symposium for Young Penalists (University of Frankfurt, 16-17 December 2021) has been published.


19 May 2021

The poster and the full programme of the VIII Symposium for Young Penalists (online, 10-11 June 2021) have been published.


28 March 2021

The AIDP has launched a Call for Papers for the International Review of Penal Law (RIDP) volume on "Artificial Intelligence, big data and automated decision-making in criminal justice”. The papers submitted by Young Penalists will be also selected for a YP Conference on the same topic to be held at the University of Frankfurt in Fall 2021.


10 February 2021

The call for papers of the VI Seminar of the Brazilian Young Penalists (8-9 April 2021) has been published


10 December 2020

The proceedings of the VII Symposium for Young Penalists have been published in a dedicated issue of the RIDP.


20 November 2020

The VIII Symposium for Young Penalists has been rescheduled to the 10-11 June 2021.


18 October 2020

The programme of the Young Penalists online seminar “The impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on the rights of accused and detained persons” (11 December 2020) has been published.


10 October 2020

The programme of the VIII Seminar of the Italian Young Penalists (Siracusa, 22-24 October 2020) has been published.


8 April 2020

The programme and the call for papers of the first Seminar of the Spanish Young Penalists together with the Portuguese Young Penalists (Cadiz, 16-17 July 2020) have been published.


31 March 2020

The VIII Symposium for Young Penalists is postponed due to the situation concerning the COVID-19. The new dates will be communicated soon.


12 February 2020

The call for papers of the VIII Symposium for Young Penalists (Maastricht, 8-9 June 2020) has been published.


30 November 2019

The VIII AIDP Symposium for Young Penalists will be held in Maastricht in June 2020. The call for papers will be published soon.


16 November 2019

During the XX World Congress of Rome a new Young Penalists Committee was appointed.


11-12 November 2019

The VII AIDP Symposium for Young Penalists was held in Rome.


5 May 2019

The proceedings of the V AIDP Symposium for Young Penalists have been published in a dedicated issue of the International Review of Penal law